Lombok - Sasak Sade Village & Gili Islands

Part 3 of my #TripOfWonders trip: Lombok!
Following up on Part 2 (Yogyakarta), our day started off really early at 4.30am cuz we had to catch our flight which was at 8am! We had to take a flight from Yogyakarta >> Bali >> Lombok!


When I found out that Lombok was going to be included in the itinerary of this media trip, I WAS SUPER EXCITED AND EXHILARATED!! I have always been wanting to visit Lombok but haven't had the chance to~ Really happy that Lombok can finally be taken out of my to-go-list! If you don't already know, Lombok is a a beach heaven which is only a mere 30mins flight from Bali, or you can take a ferry which takes approx 2 hours~ It is also less touristy, less populated than Bali with really divine beaches!
We stayed in Golden Tulip Hotel during our short stay in Lombok!

I was super lucky to be able to get a room situated high enough to catch a glimpse of how the city looks like! As you can see, lots of greenery and mosques as Indonesia is a Muslim country!

The room itself was clean, spacious and well-equipped! It was definitely a comfortable stay :)


DAY 1 Started off our first day in Lombok by having lunch at El Bazar Kuta Lombok right after touching down! This is a cafe that serves Mediterranean cuisine and it is even ranked 1st on Tripadvisor!

Loving the interior of the cafe! Super picture worthy! (Dress from @Carrislabelle, quote 'Shenny' for discounts)

Food wise - LEGIT!
You don't know how happy I was to finally have some 'Western' food after having so much Indo food the past few days~ LOL. It's not that I dislike Indo food, but it's always refreshing to have something different once in a while yes? Food was fresh & good and the service was excellent! Worth visiting!


Apart from the beautiful and charming beaches Lombok is well known for, it also has a wealth of traditional culture which is very diverse. One of the cultural heritage that you can find in Lombok is the well preserved traditional Sasak Sade Village, which was our 2nd stop of the day!


The Sasak indigenous who lives in Sasak Sade Village till today are still trying to maintain and keep the authenticity of the remains of the Sasak culture!



We had a warm welcome by the Sasak with some music played using their own traditional instruments and dance performances by the Sasak indigenous!


#SingaporeRepresentatives As a welcome gift, we were all also given a piece of this handwoven fabric which we innovated and tied it on our head as hairbands!

After the performances, it was time to roam around the village on our own!


Within the village, you can find different kinds of handwoven fabrics and handmade trinklets! You can easily spend an hour just walking through and exploring this unique village!


These traditional Sasak tribal houses are made of wood with walls made of woven bamboo and roofed with palm leaf or dry leaf reeds! The floor is made using a mixture of soil, ash tree sap and straw!

The village was beautiful in its own way and it was certainly an eye opener for me!
Since our day started really early, we went back to our hotel to rest up and prep ourselves for Day 2 which was the one that I've been looking forward to the most!!


DAY 2 Got up bright and early at 5am, all ready to visit Gili Islands!! Super excited for this 2nd part of our 11 days media trip cuz for the first half of it, we were in Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta, which are more of cities. And now that we are finally in Lombok... it's the start of our beach vacay!!

Speedboat ride! Say hello to flying messy hair! Before arriving in Gili Trawangan itself, we also snorkelled twice around Gili Islands! Honestly, I was a lil disappointed that I didn't get to see any turtles (Gili is really well known for that!!) but I guess its really luck? The water was pretty chalky that day so visibility wasn't the best and the current was quite strong as well!


After snorkelling, it was lunch time at Gili Trawangan itself! OMO.... JUST LOOK AT THIS SIGHT. THAT CLEAR BLUE SEA AND WHITE SANDY BEACHES. Lombok, I am so in love with you! Also known as Gili T, this is the largest and most visited out of the 3 Gili Islands off Lombok!

We had our lunch in Villa Ombak's restaurant!

Vitamin Sea & my Paradise Fruit Juice

Done with lunch and it was finally time to explore Gili Trawangan! But first, gotta get some OOTDs taken uh! Heheh

Outfit from @Carrislabelle too! I swear this is the shop to go to if you need any beachy outfits!




To explore Gili Trawangan, you have 3 options: - Cycle or - Ride in a horse carriage or - Walk (which I don't really recommend unless you have lots of time to spare)

We wanted to take the easy way out by hiring a horse carriage to bring us around the island but it was honestly quite difficult to get one! So instead of wasting time waiting for the next available horse carriage, we decided to cycle! Oh boy, it was one hell of a ride! SO TIRING especially since we had no time to take a break due to time constraint~


Awww I wished I was on that carriage LOL

We cycled for almost 30mins uphill to arrive at this legendary swing!!!! It's a pity that it was super low tide that day and so the sea level wasn't high enough! Can you imagine how much nicer these photos would be if the water was at our knee level?

Keline and I dubbed as the Crazy Friends Forever Sisters! Seriously!! I think sometimes we really do the craziest shit everrrr!


Some solo shots for myself~ Hehe All photos are taken by @julian_cheong, such a talented photographer!


Look what I mean by its so much nicer if the sea level was around our knee level? AND OMG LOOK AT THAT SUNSET!!!! Photo not by me but I happened to find it in my Whatsapp gallery, which was sent by a fellow blogger (sorry I really can't recall who sent this photo in the groupchat!!) on the previous batch of #TripOfWonders trip!

I wished I had the chance to stay over in Gili Islands itself but the trip itself was pretty packed so......... :( But its okay because that gives me a reason to visit Lombok & Gili Islands again right!!

Heading back to shores~


So yesss, that was yet another short and sweet encounter with Lombok! I definitely see myself coming back again, especially since it is just a stone's throw away from Bali! If you're not a fan of the hustle and bustle life in Bali, then why not visit Lombok? The beaches itself is wayyyy more beautiful, cleaner and it is also alot quieter, giving you that quality beach vacay you need!

Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints
Can't wait for my next beach vacation already! Where should I visit next? :) Follow me on Instagram and Dayre xx, Shenny
#TripOfWonders Indonesia: Part 1: Jakarta & Bandung Part 2: Yogyakarta